In an automotive vehicle, the seatbelt buckle is generally disposed on a seatbelt mount that is fixed in length in relation to a vehicle seat. The seatbelt buckle can be coupled to a vehicle floor or may be coupled to a frame portion of a vehicle seat. The fixed length buckle in current seatbelt restraint systems may be difficult to locate when a vehicle seat is moved about on a vehicle seat track. Particularly, if the vehicle seat is moved upward and/or forward, a buckle having a fixed length may be difficult to locate and latch to by the vehicle occupant. Thus, the present invention seeks to provide a seatbelt restraint system that can deliver more value than traditional seatbelt restraint system designs have done in the past.
Referring now to FIG. 1, a seatbelt assembly 1 of the prior art is shown having seatbelt webbing portions 2a-2c which is configured to wind up within a retractor 4 disposed within a vehicle pillar trim 3. The seatbelt assembly 1 is shown with a vehicle seat 5 which is most likely a passenger seat in the embodiment shown in FIG. 1. A fixed length mount 6 includes a buckle 7 disposed at a distal end thereof. A tongue member 8 is operably coupled to the seatbelt webbing 2a and is configured to be received in the buckle 7 to secure a vehicle occupant in the vehicle seat 5. Referring now to FIG. 2, a similar vehicle seat 5a is shown with the seatbelt assembly 1 for use on the driver side of a vehicle. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, the seatbelt assembly 1 includes a standard tongue 8 and buckle 7 for restraining a vehicle occupant within the vehicle seat 5a. In both the embodiments shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the tongue 8 is releasably latched to the buckle 7 and is generally retained therein until the tongue 8 is released by the vehicle occupant unlatching the tongue 8 from the buckle 7 using a release button 9 disposed on the buckle 7 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. As further shown in FIG. 2, a retractor 4 is positioned near the vehicle seat 5a and may be enclosed within a pillar trim, or may be external to the pillar trim. Seatbelt webbing portion 2c is shown coupled to an anchor 4a, however, in certain known assemblies, this anchor 4a may be replaced with a second retractor, thereby providing a dual retractor system which is generally used with a fixed tongue assembly that is coupled to separate seatbelt webbings. In order to provide more value and utility from a seatbelt system, the present invention is designed to provide features that help facilitate a vehicle occupant in fastening or latching the seatbelt assembly, wherein the buckle and tongue are reversed from there general configuration within a seatbelt assembly, and each are provided with convenience features designed to enhance the experience of the vehicle occupant.